We are sad but not surprised that Albany Bishop Edward Scharfenberger refuses to meet with two women who say they were abused by Catholic employees. More and more, bishops are acting like they acted before the church’s abuse and cover up crisis erupted in 2002 – as untouchable potentates, rather than as caring shepherds.

For crying out loud, how hard would it be for Scharfenberger to just sit down with these women? Why must he act like some high and mighty lord callously rebuffing a couple of serfs?

Or at least why won’t he explain how he’s become convinced that they’re somehow not credible?

We admire these brave, persistent women for exposing a bishop who apparently values his own comfort above the comfort of those who say they’ve been wounded.

No matter what church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy

abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

Women who claim to have been victims of sex abuse by Catholic priests begin hunger strike

BY HUBERT WIGGINS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH 2016

CAPITAL REGION -- Two women who claim they were once abused by employees of the Catholic Diocese of Albany marched on the sidewalk outside the headquarters of the Catholic Diocese of Albany on Monday. The women, who asked that their names not be published, are requesting to meet with Albany Bishop Edward Scharfenberger.

“I was molested, I was abused as a kid at a suburban parish in Albany County. I reported that to . . .